India demolish Sri Lanka in Women's Asia Cup final: Takeaways
India thrashed Sri Lanka with an eight-wicket win to be crowned winners of the 2022 Women's Asia Cup. Batting first, SLW were torched by the Indian bowlers but somehow crawled their way to 65/9. Seamer Renuka Singh (3/5) was the best bet among INDW. India faced early setbacks but steered home, credit to a flamboyant display from Smriti Mandhana (51*). Here are the takeaways.
A day to remember for Renuka
Renuka's full-length deliveries made light work of the Lankan middle-order, reducing them to 16/5 in Powerplay overs. The right-armer eventually wound up with mouth-dropping figures worth 3/5. As per Kausthub Gudipati, Renuka became the first Indian to bowl a maiden in a WT20I final. She also became the first Indian pacer to clock 20 wickets in WT20Is in a calendar year.
Indian spinners pile miseries on SLW
Indian spinners were on the money with their line and lengths, forcing Chamari Athapaththu's women into giving up their wickets. Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/16) and Sneh Rana (2/13) were among the wickets. Meanwhile, off-spinner Deepti Sharma (0/7) and Dayalan Hemalatha (0/8) curtailed the Lankan scoring to a significant extent.
SLW put up a horrendous show
It was a nightmarish show by the Lankan Women who threw up the game in the first few overs. SLW were brought down to 9/4 within four overs. As per Kausthub Gudipati, it's now the lowest four-wicket total against INDW in T20Is. SLW soon lost Nilakshi de Silva and Shehani, to register the lowest sixth-wicket total versus INDW in the format (18/6).
India Women claim their 7th Asia Cup crown
India Women have now claimed seven Asia Cup trophies, besides being a finalist in the 2018 edition. India have won four tournaments in the ODI version and three in the 20-over format. Meanwhile, SLW's quest for a maiden Asia Cup title continues. SLW have been five-time runners-up in total (ODIs: 4, T20Is: 1).
A look at other talking points
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (137) pipped New Zealand's Suzie Bates (136) to become the most-capped player in the history of WT20Is. Rising sensation Jemimah Rodrigues concluded as India's leading run-getter, compiling 217 runs at 54.25 (50s: 2). Meanwhile, Deepti aced the bowling front for INDW, bagging 13 wickets while averaging an awe-inspiring 7.69.
